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Bold Taliban Attack Kills 8 U.S. Troops in Afghanistan; Dallas Terror Plot Hearing; New York Terror Plot Grand Jury

Aired October 05, 2009 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And time now for your top of the hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM. It is 8:30 p.m. in Afghanistan, where U.S. commanders are investigating a deadly Taliban strike on American troops.

It is 11:00 a.m. in Dallas, where a teenager goes to court today to face a charge he tried to use a weapon of mass destruction. It is 9:00 a.m. in Wrightwood, California, where hundreds of residents are on the run from a frightening scene.

Let's get started.

First, fresh details about the bold Taliban attack that killed eight American troops this weekend. It happened in remote Nuristan Province, bordering Pakistan.

Live now to Afghanistan and CNN's Atia Abawi in Kabul.

And Atia, it seems that bad weather, rugged terrain apparently aided this attack and allowed for this assault to go on for some 12 hours.

ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The insurgency used the terrain to their advantage.

This was two outposts that were located in an area that was surrounded by mountain ranges and ridges. They positioned themselves on these ridges.

They launched in mortars, rockets, used heavy-caliber machine guns. According to the Afghan Defense Ministry, hundreds of fighters surrounded them. We're hearing that the U.S. military is now saying there was around 50 fighters.

Nonetheless, the attack was so strong that parts of the outposts burst into flames. Thirty minutes into the assault, the U.S. forces did have air strike come in, and the U.S. force in Afghanistan is saying that their enemy also sustained heavy casualties. But obviously this is proof that there are insurgent groups still in Afghanistan. Even across the border -- Nuristan borders Pakistan -- it's a porous border that can launch these kinds of attacks. They have the weaponry, they have the logistics and they have the coordination -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. Atia, one more question for you. You just interviewed the Afghan minister of defense. What are his thoughts on the debate going on in Washington right now and the debate centering around the idea of increasing troops?

ABAWI: I did speak to General Rahim Wardak, who is the minister of defense in Afghanistan, and he is a man that knows war. He has been involved in Afghanistan's war history for the past 30 years.

He was a Mujahideen fighter himself, fighting the Soviet occupation. He said that they were here for destruction.

The reason why he's in the Afghan government right now is he feels that the U.S. and the coalition countries want to make a difference and can make a difference. He says he wants to stay out of the Washington politics, but he says they need the resources, they need the troops, because the Afghan national army does not have the sufficient troop levels right now.

And for that part, he also says the ISAF forces don't have sufficient troops as well. He says they need those troops to train the Afghan troops, to bring security, to spread out the security in certain parts of Afghanistan, which we saw on Saturday does not have that security to this day.

I'm not sure if we have the sound bite, but let's listen to what he has to say.

HARRIS: Great.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL RAHIM WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We believe that victory's in our grasp, only we have to vindicate the resources which is required, because the whole campaign in Afghanistan was under-resources for many, many years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABAWI: He did say he wanted to stay out of Washington politics, but he also said he needs those troops, and he supports General McChrystal's assessment on Afghanistan -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. CNN's Atia Abawi for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Atia, appreciate it. Thank you.

Terror in Pakistan. A suicide bomber strikes a United Nations office in the capital, Islamabad. The attack killed five workers for the U.N. World Food Program. The bomber got inside by posing as a security guard and asking to use the bathroom. The attack came a day after the Taliban vowed revenge for the death of one of its leaders in a U.S. missile strike.

President Obama turns to doctors for some emergency assistance on the health care reform. The president met earlier with physicians from around the country. In remarks in the Rose Garden last hour, he said doctors know first hand about the problems with the nation's health care system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, every one of you here today took an oath when you entered the medical profession. It was not an oath that you would spend a lot of time on the phone with insurance companies. It was not an oath that you would have to turn away patients who you know could use your help, not devote your lives to be bean counters or paper pushers. You took an oath so you could heal people. You did it so you could save lives.

The reforms we're proposing to our health care system will help you live up to that oath. They will make sure...

(APPLAUSE)

They will make sure that neither some government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between a patient and their doctor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, the president says reform will provide security to those who have health insurance and coverage to those who don't.

African-American and Latino organizations are encouraging minority involvement in the health care reform debate. The NAACP National Voter Fund, the National Council of La Raza, and other groups say they want to mobilize communities of color. The groups plan to run TV and print ads in four states with large Latino and African- American populations.

A fast-moving California wildfire is threatening dozens of homes in San Bernardino County. At least 4,000 people have been ordered to evacuate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got everything -- clothes, computers, pictures, family albums.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's mostly just clothes and valuables. This is stuff from my wife's family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We evacuated 40 head from my ranch last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Officials say the wildfire is 20 percent contained. Since it started over the weekend, 7,500 acres and three homes have burned. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

A 19-year-old teenager from Jordan goes before a federal judge less than two hours from now. He is accused of attempting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper.

Our Ed Lavandera is covering the case.

And Ed, what's expected to happen to today?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what is being called a probable cause hearing where authorities will lay out much of the case against Hosam Smadi, the 19-year-old Jordanian citizen that FBI investigators say had plotted to blow up one of the more prominent buildings in all of downtown Dallas a little more than a week ago. He was arrested just after driving out of the parking garage of that building.

FBI authorities say that he believed he had a car full of explosives, that he had driven in, into that parking garage, and had dialed the number that he thought would detonate that bomb. But it turned out to be an FBI number, and he was promptly arrested.

Hosam Smadi had been living in a small town south of Dallas, about 45 minutes away in a little town called Italy, Texas. His friends who have spoken out in the last week or so about Smadi paint a very different picture from what we've read about Smadi in these court documents. FBI investigators say he was an angry young man who had been plotting and talking in Internet chat rooms about wanting to do harm and carry out jihad against the United States of America.

Now, his friends down in Italy, Texas, say that they did not see this young man, this troubled young man, that the only thing that they had noticed was a young man who was depressed because he had been living here in Italy and felt detached away from his family. And perhaps that was leading to some of his depression.

But in any case, Hosam Smadi has been in FBI custody since his arrest a little more than a week ago. And he'll be back in a courtroom just a few blocks away from the very building that he had plotted to blow up -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, Ed, authorities say that Smadi was here in the U.S. illegally. Have we learned more about how he lived here illegally and why he wasn't deported?

LAVANDERA: Well, you know, this has been one of the more difficult things to kind of nail down factually as to what was going on, but we have been told by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, was that Smadi had entered the United States legally on a visitor's visa back in 2007, but had overstayed that visa. Now, why he wasn't deported or picked up before then, we haven't been able to get an answer to. But for a background, there could have been several things happening.

Smadi, being from Jordan, is one of these countries of interest. At the time that his visa expired, he was supposed to have checked in with Customs officials and either left or renewed his visa to stay here.

If that doesn't happen, ICE officials would have gone out to pick him up. That obviously didn't happen. But if the FBI investigation was already into full swing, that FBI investigation would have trumped whatever ICE was doing. So, that would have become a moot point regardless. We haven't been able to get answers to exactly how that played out on the immigration front on this case.

HARRIS: All right. Got you.

Ed Lavandera in Texas for us, in Dallas.

Ed, appreciate it. Thank you.

Now to the investigation of an alleged terror plot targeting New York City.

CNN has learned a grand jury has been meeting to consider more charges in the case, and authorities are keeping a close watch on the suspect's travel companions.

National correspondent Susan Candiotti has the latest developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When accused terror conspirator Najibullah Zazi traveled to Pakistan last year, what happened to the others who were with him? Sources close to the investigation tell CNN several of them are back in the U.S., presumably under surveillance. No one will say who, how many, or where they are.

RAY KELLY, NYPD COMMISSIONER: There's a significant amount of resources being devoted to it, and the investigation is going forward aggressively.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): You're confident that those people will not get away?

KELLY: Yes.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Prosecutors allege Zazi and others flew to Peshawar, Pakistan, in August, 2008. During FBI questioning, they say he admitted getting explosives training at an al Qaeda camp. Zazi has pleaded not guilty to a terror plot.

One of the people under nonstop surveillance is Naiz Khan. He is a childhood friend of Zazi and says he let Zazi stay at his apartment as an impromptu favor September 10th, after Zazi drove to New York from Denver.

Khan says the FBI also questioned him about traveling from Pakistan to New York on the same day as Zazi last January. Khan says it's all pure coincidence. He says they didn't fly to Pakistan with Zazi either and showed us his passport to prove it. He says he's not a terrorist and has not been charged in the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NAIZ KHAN, ZAZI'S CHILDHOOD FRIEND: Every year I go three months, and then I come back. And I did not even know that he's coming or he's in Pakistan or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: When Zazi returned from Pakistan, prosecutors say he and others bought large amounts of hydrogen peroxide and other chemicals from beauty supply stores in Colorado. Those were chemicals were bomb ingredients used in deadly terror attacks overseas. Man has learned the search for possible evidence has expanded to include fertilizer.

That was a key ingredient in the Oklahoma City bombing. The FBI has been canvassing businesses including this New York landscaper asking about fertilizer sales and showing a binder of male photos. In the meantime, Zazi's uncle tells CNN, federal investigators flew him and his wife to New York last week to testify before a grand jury as part of an ongoing investigation.

(on camera): This case may be going full throttle, but as one source put it, "No one's ready to say the FBI has its arms completely around it."

Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Dazed by death and destruction all around them, students in Indonesia return to what's left of their school.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The death toll in Indonesia passed 600 today. As many as a thousand people are missing after last week's earthquakes. Most feared buried under debris. Even though Indonesia is dealing with a major disaster, children returned to school today.

Here's CNN's Dan Rivers in Padang.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charged with emotion and grief, this is the first morning assembly at the high school in Padang since the earthquake. For many, these past few days have been too much.

Only half the 800 children are present. It's not yet known how many have died.

A teacher is overcome after learning at least one member of staff is among the dead.

GUSTINA, ENGLISH TEACHER: They feel very sad. They can't control their emotions. With this reality, our school is broken. RIVERS: But it's not just broken in spirit, the very fabric of this school has been smashed apart. The ceilings of most of the classrooms have fallen in. Thankfully, lessons had finished when the walls collapsed onto the desks.

(on camera): Many of the students have mixed feelings about being back at school. They are happy to see that their friends are OK, but many of them are worried there will be another earthquake.

(voice-over): It's not surprising. Many students are living in homes that now lie in ruins. This house belongs to one student who just made it out.

HARIA FITRI, STUDENT: I jumped. After I jumped, the ceiling fell out.

RIVERS (on camera): So you only just made it out?

FITRI: Yes, I just made it out. I was very lucky.

RIVERS: And what's it like being back here at school?

FITRI: I feel worried about maybe -- I always think that maybe there will be another earthquake, so I am worried.

HARRIS PUTRAREZE, STUDENT: When I see my school, very big destruction, I get a little sad. But I'm very happy to be back to my school.

RIVERS (voice-over): But it will be a long time before school is back to normal. Lessons are being held in a tent. And all around, little reminders of the day the earth shook so violently, a day none of these students will not forget for the rest of their lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Food, water, and medicine are reaching residents in the city of Padang, but outlying areas have seen little or no aid yet.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The U.S. economy grew more than expected in the third quarter, but former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan predicts the number of jobs lost and unemployment rate will continue to rise. He expects the nationwide jobless rate to hit 10 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN GREENSPAN, FMR. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The silver lining is, at some point we're going to start to see an improvement in employment. But remember that unless there is a monthly income of more than 100,000 a month, you've still got the unemployment rate continuing to rise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We are talking about the unemployed in America. And we want to hear from you.

What, in your mind, is most responsible for the worsening employment picture? Are we talking about a slow-to-work stimulus package, an economy much worse than we thought, employers cutting deeper and hiring more slowly than expected, or something else all together?

Send me your thoughts by logging on to CNN.com/Tony.

With so many Americans out of work and so much competition for the jobs that are out there, some women are turning to non-traditional jobs as a way to make ends meet. And in some cases, to make their dreams come true.

Our Kate Bolduan explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Talk about tools for success.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, don't push it too much.

BOLDUAN: Women like Janice McCain of Maryland are trying to power through tough economic times with a fresh start in an industry still dominated by men -- construction.

JANICE MCCAIN, WAWIT GRADUATE: I want to get into looking at environmentally friendly ways of building. I want to look at solar thermal energy. I don't do it now. Time is wasting.

BOLDUAN: Why? After a career full of office jobs, including at the State Department and Howard University, McCain found herself unemployed -- no job, no income.

MCCAIN: I've just trimmed a lot of corners. I mean, I don't go shopping at the malls. I don't splurge on things that I normally would splurge on.

BOLDUAN: But she says it's been a blessing in disguise. A friend from church mentioned a D.C.-based program called WAWIT, Washington Area Women in the Trades, a free training program designed to help low-income women reach financial independence through non- traditional careers like masonry and carpentry.

ALICE DREW, WAWIT DIRECTOR: We have women who come from a very diverse background. We have women who have been unemployed for a long time. We have women who are returning from incarceration. We have average everyday women.

BOLDUAN: Along with seven weeks of classroom and job site skills training, these women also get physical training. DREW: Because we know when you get out there, it's going to be hot, it's going to be cold. You're going to be doing heavy-duty work. And we want you to be prepared physically to have the stamina that's required.

BOLDUAN: For McCain, WAWIT also offered a chance at a childhood dream.

(on camera): So it's always been a passion of yours, working with your hands and doing construction?

MCCAIN: Yes. Yes.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): McCain graduated in August and is now working on getting an apprenticeship. Her new goal? To one day run her own construction company.

MCCAIN: I think that if you are a woman and you're interested in construction, there shouldn't be a door being blocked from you getting in.

BOLDUAN (on camera): And this program has opened that door for you?

MCCAIN: Definitely opened that door for me.

BOLDUAN: The program's director says this training course started up just over two years ago. And so far, they've graduated more than 100 women, more than 65 percent of which they say are either employed or enrolled in an apprenticeship program.

Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Aid workers who only wanted to feed the hungry become the target of a suicide bomber. Now more innocent people may become the victims of that attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama plans three meetings this week as he considers his way of forward in Afghanistan. His national security advisor, Jim Jones, tells CNN Afghanistan and he's not imminent danger in falling in to Taliban hands, and he says al Qaeda's presence in Afghanistan is greatly diminished atofewer than 100 operatives. Jones rapped Senator John McCain, who suggested President Obama may pass on more troops to satisfy liberals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JIM JONES, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Senator McCain knows me very well. I work for Senator McCain when he was a captain. I've known him for many many years and he knows that I don't play politics and I don't play with National Security and he is not anyone else I know. The lives of (INAUDIBLE) Every strategy does not belong to any political party that I can assure you but the President of the United States is not playing any political base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: As Washington's consider more troops the dub survey in Americans and Afghanistan this weekend put a laser sharp focus on the man-power shortage. A Taliban militant weights its 12 hour fire fight where U.S. troops removed base in north eastern Afghanistan. The Americans by and one count or out numbered by Taliban for the one.

Let's turn it again to CNN Atia Abawi in Kabul. Atia, what are soldiers even doing in these far flung areas, like the one hit in this weekend attack?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What soldiers doing in their outpost is that there are soldiers that go out and patrolled. They go out and try to talk to the locals and general McChrystal and his missed strategy that he has presented President. Obama. He's talking about getting out of those armored vehicles then engaging with the local, getting out of those operating based and yes it does put him into some security threat and although this is an assessment.

Since that, President Obama and the strategy that under consideration but really it's been a strategy that in fact since June. Since McChrystal has been in Afghanistan and I myself went out with General McChrystal just last month to Kunar province to borders in Arizona, very similar provinces when you look at the terrain and when you look at the forces that are there.

Right now, they're trying to engage with the local government. They are going up to dinner with the local government and trying to put with the project that they are working on building constructing. We saw a bridge that was built that the local police force say that help someone it comes to the militants and he pointed to a mountain right across from us. A mountain that borders Pakistan. He says that the mountain with the militants cross over and used to flood the area.

The soldiers are right -- and the troops are trying to do right now is they're trying to win over the support of the Afghan people but obviously by no means that the state nation, the area that we were out with General McChrystal when I was talking to police officer there. He told me that we may have been taking the area that we're standing in right now, but just ten kilometers away with the village that was run by the Taliban. Tony.

HARRIS: Just last one, does the U.S. military even wanted to be in these remote areas anymore?

ABAWI: One thing to look at in this new assessment by General McChrystal, they want to shift the forces, they want to shift the forces to more popular areas of Afghanistan where they say that they can protect more of the afghan people and by protecting them, securing them, they can show them that they are there to help but yet it is right now something that is in question by many people. Obviously, after this attack in northern -- eastern Afghanistan that we saw on Saturday, this was an outpost that was supposed to be abandoned. The soldiers were going to go off to another area, in more populous area the plan still into a fact rate now but the question remains. We saw this attack occurring and in the remote area. We saw the insurgency had a very strong attack. They were coordinated, they had the open, they had the logistic and that is why the Defense Minister of Afghanistan was saying they need more troops so they can spread them out.

HARRIS: All right, CNN Atia Abawi in Kabul, Afghanistan. Atia, thank you. A terror strike on the U.N. office in Pakistan. A suicide bomber, group security guards to get inside the explosion killed five workers from the u.n. World Food world program.

Live from Islamabad and Reza, this bomber wore uniform. What kind was it and where would he get it?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony, Senior Government official here in Pakistan says the uniform belong to Pakistan's frontier core. This is a paramilitary force that has assigned several man to stand guard outside offices of the world through program, and it's a fact that you can buy this types of uniforms even military stripes in the number of secondhand stores and markets throughout the region, its not clear because if that's indeed what the suicide attacker and did.

But the senior government official said he had this uniform on. What's most troubling is that he convinced the private security officers that the door of the World Food Program that he needed to use the bathroom. They said that okay, he went inside, moments later you had this explosion to the reception are Pakistani television is showing surveillance video of the attack where you see the man wearing the black uniform walked inside, moments later you see the flash that according to officials is the explosion.

Five people killed in this blast, all of them, employees of the U.N. World Food Program, four of them Pakistani citizens, two of them women, one an Iraqi national. Tony the U.N. has said the offices in Islamabad and nearby Ralopende (ph) will be closed indefinitely as a precaution but you can be sure. Someone's going to have a lot of explaining to do after what was clearly a security bridge today in Islamabad.

HARRIS: All right, Reza Sayah for the forces in Islamabad, Pakistan. Reza, thank you.

Thousands of people are told to get out as a fast moving wildfire burns parts of California.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's going to check of our top stories now. A 19-year old Jordanian man is doing a federal court analysis this afternoon. Hosam Maher Husein Smadi is accused of planning to blow up a Dallas skyscraper and judge will decide whether they have enough evidence to prosecute Smadi.

In San Bernardino, California fire fighters are battling a fast moving blaze that already burn 75 hundred acres of damage homes. A mandatory evacuation order in effect for thousands of families. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency for that area and new video just in to CNN.

That 50-foot whale. Yes, you see the video here, it's still on the shore in Tampa Bay channel. The whale was found Sunday morning. The Hillsburg County Insurance Marine unit is worried to poses a shipping hazard. Now, once the transport both arrives, the whale will be taken to Fort Dakota for testing.

All right, let's get you, I'd like to remind you this time to go to CNNmoney.com for the latest financial news and analysis are team that did terrific job there waiting to see what pops up in the video about, make sure.

Okay, let's get you to the Big Board right now for a look Wall Street stocks, just past three hours into the trading day, as you can see stocks rebounding from last weeks loses the Dow has 72 points. And we were following these numbers throughout the day with Susan Lisovicz live here at the CNN NEWSROOM.

Nothing on the video box. It is been 1 year since President Bush assigned tough on the $700 billion federal bill have known as TARP. Now the top cop says that not everything we heard at the time is true. CNNMONEY.COM Poppy Harlow is in New York. What is Barofsky is saying? What do they know, Poppy?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, Tony, if the video would have popped up in the video by, you would have seen the full interview with that TARP top cop Barofsky, folks details this morning. On the details of it, folks, the new report on today saying that the feds were not entirely honest with the public last year when we saw TARP pass.

And this report, again, this morning finds the first ninth big u.s. Banks that were laying a $125 billion were actually according to the report not as healthy as officials indicated at that time. And Secretary, Former Secretary Hank Paulson was even concerned that one of the banks might be -- could outright fail. That was a concern at the time.

Of course, we know, Tony, looking back, the driving force behind TARP get the bank lending to again both businesses and consumer stabilizes the broad financial system. Barofsky In this report he says that the treasury at the time painted an overly rosy picture. Take a look at what he told us.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL BAROFSKY, SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL, TARP: It raised unrealistic expectations by saying that these are healthy banks. This money is going to help them lend. Look, one of the main points which we describe in detail was to prevent a systemic collapse, to provide stability, provide confidence to the market and the TARP did help and assist in doing all of those things, but restoring lending it was not just a realistic expectation and they think the credibility of the program has suffered significantly because of those misrepresentations and because of the sense that expectations so were so high that this was going to be a fix off to historic lending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And of course it wasn't a lot of businesses complaining they are not seeing the lending levels that they'd like to see the treasury, in response to this report Tony, saying that while people may differ today on how the announcement should have been phrased, any review must be considered in light of the unprecedented circumstances under which they were made. Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Poppy, look. TARP was set up as a loan. It's one year later. Are taxpayers ever going to get their money back?

HARLOW: Probably not all of it. Let's look at this. We've got $450 billion of that $750 billion TARP program that has gone out the door. The government has gotten about $80 billion back. Goldman Sachs, for example, paid back its TARP loan in full.

But billions of dollars are still outstanding. To name a few. AIG's loans, General Motors, Citigroup, Bank of America to name just a few. Chrysler as well. Financial experts telling cnnmoney.com when all is said and done, Tony, that the U.S. taxpayer could stand to lose between $100 and $200 billion from the TARP program.

That's all outlined and very interesting stories. Some great reporting by our David Goldman in this piece. That's what taxpayers could be on the hook for, so you can see that on CNNmoney.com. And also that full interview with Neil Barofsky. Really interesting report out.

HARRIS: Yes, yes. You and that team, you guys do a terrific job. CNNmoney.com. Poppy, good to see you. Thank you.

HARLOW: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: No money means no jobs. We're talking about the umemployed in America. And we've been asking you on my blog page what, in your mind, is most responsible for the worsening employment picture or a slowed or a stimulus package, an economy much worse than we thought. Employers cutting deeper and hiring at a slower pace.

Here are some of your thoughts from Pat. "Employers are cutting extraneous expenses just like everyone else. In my field, IT, they are asking themselves whether they are getting the value out of that extra report, extra fast processing, or brand-new, shiny interface. If they don't need it, they don't buy it. And that is why I am scrambling to find my next assignment.

Al writes, "Employers are in need of workers now, but until the health care debate is resolved, they can't know for sure how much money hiring a worker will cost them."

And from Joan, "Stimulus should go to small and moderate businesses to create an incentive to hire. Get rid of the idea that the rich need to be punished. They control the jobs."

But Wendy says, "Blame lies with those who have exercised corporate greed, aided greed orturned a blind eye and allowed it to happen."

Once again, cnn.com/tony.

An alarming new study from the CDC. It suggests autism cases in children could be on the rise. Are more children at risk? Or are doctors just getting better at diagnosing the disorder?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Too many babies born too soon. A new report from the March of Dime says each year almost 13 million infants worldwide are born before 37 weeks of development, and every year more than one million premature babies died before their one-month-old. The report urges more research into the causes of premature births.

A new study suggests autism in the United States may be more prevalent than we thought.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now to talk about how health reform legislation might actually help families dealing autism.

Boy, I can't wait to hear.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Some of these numbers are pretty stunning.

HARRIS: Yes.

COHEN: And when you see them, you see why there needs to be changes in health care reform.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

COHEN: Let's take a look at what these studies from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health found. When you look back to the '90s, one in 166 children in this country had a diagnosis of autism. Fast forward to 2002, it was 150 U.S. children. Fast forward to today, we're talking about one out of every 91 kids in this country has a diagnosis of autism.

HARRIS: Right.

COHEN: And it's unclear why that's true. It's unclear. Is it because autism is truly increasing?

HARRIS: Yes.

COHEN: Or is it because doctors are just getting better about diagnosing it.

HARRIS: A couple of questions come to mind here. It's difficult enough to have a child with autism. It take an incredible amount of work. And then trying to coral all of the services that may help your child, I'm wondering, does health care insurance pay for any of this?

COHEN: You know, insurance companies in most states are not required to cover autism. And so parents can sometimes find themselves in debt, spending tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, on services for their child with autism. There are definitely stories of parents going into debt, mortgaging their house, having to sell their house. I mean, it's a very, very expensive disorder to treat.

HARRIS: So I'm wondering moving forward, we're in this huge health care debate in the country right now. I'm wondering if health care reform will help.

For example, maybe even more specifically, what's being talk about in the Baucus bill. Is there any help for families there?

COHEN: Yes. There have been some amendments to the Baucus bill that do specifically address autism and other kinds of psychiatric and behavioral disorders. And to put it simply, what these amendments do is they say, there has to be parody for disorders like autism. So if you're going to be paying for cancer and heart disease, et cetera, insurance company should also have to pay for autism.

Now, when I look at the amendments, it doesn't say you have to pay extra number of dollars, but it does use the word parity and that certain minimums have to be reached when insurance companies offer policies. They can't sort of ignore autism.

HARRIS: All right. Will you keep us posted on the final language of the Baucus bill?

COHEN: Yes.

HARRIS: I know there has to be some molding with the health bill, and where we end at the end of the day with the entire set of bill.

COHEN: That's right. It seems to change every day.

HARRIS: Yes.

Elizabeth, appreciate it.

COHEN: Thanks.

HARRIS: Thank you.

Let's get you back to Chad Myers now.

And, Chad, we were talking about the California wildfires, in terms of improving conditions for firefighters to do their work, cooling temperatures and cloud cover.

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HARRIS: All right. We are thinking about our friends in California. Certainly, those firefighters with a heck of a lot of work ahead of them.

Chad, appreciate it. Thank you.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're welcome.

HARRIS: Keeping kids out of gangs. We will show you how a federally-funded program reaches out to Latino youth, through their families, schools, and communities.

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